VGC 专访 GAME FREAK 尾上将之：GEAR PROJECT 机制与第一制作组的原创野心——追求超越宝可梦的冲击力
宝可梦 剑·盾
原始资料
GAME FREAK 程序员兼总监 尾上将之（Masayuki Onoue）
图像作为阅读入口保留；正文仍以可检索、可对照的文字档案为主。
逐段译读
GAME FREAK 程序员兼总监 尾上将之（Masayuki Onoue）
原文
Pokémon developer Game Freak is increasingly prioritising original game creation as part of its Gear Project initiative.
译文
宝可梦开发商 GAME FREAK 正日益将原创游戏创作作为其“Gear Project”计划的一部分优先推进。
原文
So far Gear Project has resulted in four original games from the Japanese studio; HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant and GIGA WRECKER, all of which released after 2012. The developer is also working on Town, a Nintendo Switch RPG due out in 2019.
译文
迄今为止，Gear Project 已让这家日本工作室推出了四款原创游戏：《节奏骑兵》（HarmoKnight）、《口袋卡牌骑师》（Pocket Card Jockey）、《坏坏大象坦博》（Tembo the Badass Elephant）和《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER），这些游戏均在2012年之后面世。此外，该开发商还在紧锣密鼓地开发代号为《Town》（后定名为《小镇英雄》/ Little Town Hero）的 Nintendo Switch 原创 RPG，预计于 2019 年内发售。
原文
Programmer and director Masayuki Onoue told VGC earlier this year that by taking breaks from its flagship Pokémon series, Game Freak’s creators can return to the franchise “refreshed” and transfer their new experience to the famous series.
译文
程序员兼总监尾上将之今年早些时候向 VGC 透露，通过暂时抽离旗舰系列《宝可梦》，GAME FREAK 的创作者们能以“焕然一新”的心态重返宝可梦开发，并将积累的新经验反哺给这一王牌系列。
原文
Onoue has worked as a programmer on mainline Pokémon games since Black and White, but recently directed his first game, GIGA WRECKER for PC. You can see the full transcript of our interview with Onoue below.
译文
尾上自《宝可梦 黑·白》起便一直担任主系列宝可梦的程序员，最近执导了他的首款监督作品——PC 平台动作解谜游戏《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER）。以下为 VGC 专访尾上将之的完整对谈记录。
原文
What is it like to work for such an influential developer?
译文
在这样一家极具影响力的知名游戏开发商工作是一种怎样的体验？
原文
I joined Game Freak straight from college in 2010. One of my goals was to work on a game that would get played by as many users as possible, so in that sense I feel very lucky to be at the creator of Pokémon.
译文
我于 2010 年大学毕业后便直接加入了 GAME FREAK。我的核心职业目标之一就是参与制作一款能让尽可能多的全球玩家游玩的游戏，从这个角度来说，能够身处《宝可梦》的诞生地，我感到非常幸运。
原文
Before I joined Game Freak I was already aware of the company’s Gear Project and it was a hope of mine that I would someday be able to create something new through that. My goal was eventually achieved with Giga Wrecker. All of what’s happened up until this point, with me able to sit in this interview with you, is thanks to Game Freak and I’m very lucky.
译文
在入职 GAME FREAK 之前，我就已经了解过公司的“Gear Project”计划，当时我便心怀憧憬，希望有朝一日能借由这个平台创造出全新的原创作品。如今这一目标通过《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER）得以实现。走到今天这一步、能够坐在这里接受您的采访，全都有赖于 GAME FREAK 给予的机会，我感到无比幸运。
原文
Do you agree that 2019 looks like it could be one of the biggest in Game Freak’s history with all the titles its planning to release?
译文
考虑到计划发售的所有作品，您是否认同 2019 年有望成为 GAME FREAK 发展史上规模最宏大的一年之一？
原文
2019 will be very exciting, especially following the Pikachu Let’s Go titles which allowed us to start looking seriously at Nintendo Switch as a platform. That was a very important milestone for us before moving on to the next step.
译文
2019 年确实会非常令人激动。尤其是在《宝可梦 Let’s Go！皮卡丘·Let’s Go！伊布》发售之后，那款作品促使我们开始真正全面认真地对待 Nintendo Switch 这一平台硬件。在我们迈向下一阶段之前，那绝对是一个极其关键的里程碑。
原文
However, with the Gear Project we were always targeting PS4, Xbox One and PC as well, but our project relied on game engines such as Unity. Looking at that, I feel as a programmer that we need to really grow as a production team in order to target future platforms.
译文
然而在 Gear Project 方面，我们的目标平台一直涵盖了 PS4、Xbox One 以及 PC，并且项目高度依赖于 Unity 等通用商业引擎。审视这一点，作为一名程序员，我认为我们整个制作团队必须加速成长蜕变，以更好地应对未来的多元硬件平台。
原文
Game Freak is best known for Pokémon of course, but is your hope that it can one day be known for more than that with the Gear Project?
译文
GAME FREAK 当然以《宝可梦》最为世人熟知，但您是否期盼有朝一日凭借 Gear Project，工作室也能因为宝可梦之外的作品而闻名遐迩？
原文
Exactly. There are two different production teams here, simply named Production Team 1 and Production Team 2. Team 1 is fully dedicated to Gear Project, while Team 2 is for the Pokémon operation. What that means is that Game Freak as a company is prioritising Gear Project, which is production team number one, more than Pokémon in general.
译文
完全没错。我们内部设立了两个不同的制作团队，简称为“制作1组”和“制作2组”。1组完全专注于 Gear Project 原创项目研发，而 2组 则负责《宝可梦》的核心业务运转。这意味着从公司整体战略而言，GAME FREAK 将象征着第一制作组的 Gear Project 摆在了比单纯推进宝可梦更为优先、或至少同等重要的战略高度。
原文
We are always trying to create something that is equally exciting, or more exciting than Pokémon.
译文
我们始终在努力创造出与《宝可梦》同样令人心潮澎湃、甚至超越宝可梦震撼力的全新原创体验。
原文
Can the experience Team 1 gains working on different genres and platforms benefit Team 2?
译文
1组在涉足不同游戏类型与跨平台开发中所积累的经验，能否反哺并让 2组（宝可梦团队）受益？
原文
There is a lot of back-and-forth between Team 1 and Team 2. One of the interesting things is that Team 2, which is dedicated to Pokémon, only knows about specific platforms. So with Team 2, engineers can learn about other platforms that he might not have touched before. So by mixing up the teams we are able to create this interesting synergy.
译文
1组和 2组之间存在着极其频繁的人员与技术交流。非常有意思的一点在于，专注于《宝可梦》的 2组以往往往只熟悉特定的任天堂掌机或主机平台。而通过跨组交流，2组的工程师能够接触并学习以往可能从未碰过的跨平台技术。因此，通过打通并轮换团队人才，我们创造出了非常奇妙的协同效应。
Town is an RPG due for Nintendo Switch in 2019（代号《Town》是由 GAME FREAK 第一制作组打造的 Nintendo Switch 原创 RPG，后正式定名为《小镇英雄》/ Little Town Hero）
原文
So it seems the experience gained via Gear Project is able to benefit the company as a whole?
译文
这么看来，通过 Gear Project 积累的实战经验确实能让整个公司全局受益？
原文
Yes, I totally agree. Gear Project is supporting the technical strength of Game Freak. Separately, we have an R&D group that directly supports the technical aspects of Game Freak, which also helps.
译文
是的，我完全赞同。Gear Project 正在夯实并拔高 GAME FREAK 整体的技术硬实力。除此之外，我们还设立了专门直接提供技术支持的 R&D（研发）部门，这也起到了极大的协同助推作用。
原文
You’ve personally worked on both Pokémon and new IPs at Game Freak. As a creator, do you feel like it helps you to be able to take a break from Pokémon and perhaps return reinvigorated?
译文
您个人在 GAME FREAK 既参与过《宝可梦》主干系列，也主导过新 IP 原创研发。作为创作者，您是否觉得暂时抽离宝可梦、换个环境汲取灵感后再回归，对您有极大的助益？
原文
Yes, it was a totally refreshing experience when I moved from Pokémon to Giga Wrecker. It’s like a paradigm shift.
译文
是的，当我从《宝可梦》转向主导《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER）时，那是一种彻底焕然一新的体验，简直就像经历了一场思维范式的革新。
原文
On Pokémon, of course I contribute to the project, but it’s not like I’m looking at the whole picture of the project. However with Giga Wrecker, as a director I’m constantly supervising the whole picture and need to be aware of what’s going on. So yes, it was a very interesting and refreshing experience for me.
译文
在《宝可梦》项目中，我当然倾注了力量，但作为程序员并不需要鸟瞰整个项目的宏观全貌。然而在《千兆破坏者》中，作为总监我必须时刻监控项目的方方面面，全盘掌握所有动态。因此，这对我而言确实是一次极具启发性与新鲜感的宝贵历练。
原文
When you’re a programmer working on Pokémon, you’re one of many programmers. However, as a director on Giga Wrecker the experience opened my eyes to the other aspects of game creation, all the way up to users playing the game. It’s really difficult to expect a programmer to have that kind of perspective, but as director I learned how to make a game more appealing and accessible to players, plus aspects of marketing as well.
译文
当作为一名程序员参与《宝可梦》时，你只是庞大开发矩阵中的一员；但在《千兆破坏者》担任总监的经历，极大地拓宽了我的宏观视野，涵盖了从游戏架构到最终端玩家上手游玩的整条完整链条。要求普通程序员具备这种全局视角是非常困难的，但以总监的身份，我深入领悟了如何让作品对玩家更具吸引力、更容易上手，甚至涉猎了市场营销等维度的思维方式。
原文
Gear Project has helped me become more creative. I’ve now seen the whole process of creation all the way to marketing and selling the game to players. I can now bring that knowhow back to the Pokémon team and try to create something different for Pokémon. So it’s a good synergy between Gear Project and Pokémon creation.
译文
Gear Project 真正激发了我的创造潜能。如今我亲历了从作品立项、研发打磨到宣发推广、销售触达玩家的全过程。我现在可以把这些全链路认知与经验带回宝可梦团队，努力为《宝可梦》带来与众不同的新突破。这正是 Gear Project 与宝可梦开发之间极佳的良性互动循环。
原文
Game Freak seems to be putting out more titles than ever before, with three this year alone. How have you managed to become so efficient?
译文
GAME FREAK 如今推出的作品阵容似乎比以往任何时期都更为密集，仅今年就有三款之多。你们是如何实现如此高效的产出节奏的？
原文
In terms of the number of titles we are releasing this year, it’s happened coincidentally. It’s not like we’re trying to put everything together in 2019 – it just happened.
译文
就今年集中推出的作品数量而言，这在很大程度上其实是一种时间节点上的巧合。我们并不是刻意要将所有项目堆积在 2019 年发布——只是各项目的开发周期恰好在此刻交汇重叠。
原文
R&D is a newly founded division which is creating the basic library, which used to be created every single time we made a project. That helps the efficiency of our production for sure. Also we are looking at what’s going on in the future, from a technical perspective, and that’s something else that we’ve never had before. I think that R&D division will certainly contribute to the future of Game Freak.
译文
同时，新成立的 R&D（研发）部门正在搭建底层通用基础代码库。以往我们每开启一个新项目，都不得不从零重新编写基础库；底层库的沉淀毫无疑问大幅提升了我们的研发管线效率。此外，我们正从前沿技术视角长远布局未来，这是我们过去从未有过的战略尝试。我相信 R&D 部门必将为 GAME FREAK 的长远未来提供强劲助力。
原文
Can you tell us what you’re working on right now?
译文
您能透露一下您目前正在推进的具体工作吗？
原文
I’m taking care of multiple projects. I’m working on Giga Wrecker now and working on another project as well. It’s stimulating, yet challenging as well.
译文
我目前正在统筹掌管多个项目。一边在跟进《千兆破坏者》（的主机移植与完善工作），同时也在全速投入另一款新项目的研发中。这既让人倍感充实与兴奋，同时也极具挑战性。
原文
Nintendo Switch is performing incredibly well, especially here in Japan. What do you think makes it so popular as a platform?
译文
Nintendo Switch 在全球、尤其在日本本土市场表现极为亮眼。从您的视角来看，它作为一款游戏硬件平台如此风靡的核心魅力何在？
原文
I think the unique nature of the hardware has inspired creators to come up with something different. That’s why Switch has a very unique library of games that appeal to a wide range of users.
译文
我认为正是 Switch 这一硬件独一无二的形态特征（掌机/主机无缝切换等），极大地激发了创作者们的灵感，促使大家去构想独具匠心的崭新点子。这正是为什么 Switch 能够孕育出如此独树一帜、能广泛吸引各圈层玩家的游戏阵容。
Archive record 档案信息
- Date
- 2019.05.09
- Source
- Video Games Chronicle (VGC)
- People
- VGC, 尾上将之
- Game / Work
- 宝可梦 剑·盾
- Page
- 未标注
- Language
- ja
- Status
- published